Devils ease to home win as Martin ties league record

Photo: James Assinder

Cardiff Devils extended their lead at the top of the Elite League with a 6-1 home win over Dundee Stars, logged their second home win of the weekend at another sold-out Vindico Arena.

On a play that began in their own zone, the Devils opened the scoring 4:33 into the period after catching the Stars flat-footed. A three-on-two rush developed, with Reid Duke sending a backdoor pass to Brett Perlini, who slotted it past Jarrett Fiske.

In an attempt to play the puck behind his net, Ben Bowns inadvertently gave it away to Kameron Kielly, who found Keanu Yamamoto waiting in the slot. Yamamoto scored his first of the season, tying the game at one in the process at 14:05.

The game didn’t stay tied for long, though, as the Devils quickly responded at 14:25. Ben Davies beat out an icing call after the puck was thrown in deep, and although Fiske made an initial stop on a shot from the Devils forward, it was Sam Duggan who picked up the rebound and slotted the puck past the Stars netminder.

The Devils extended their lead at 6:30 into period two when a turnover behind the Stars’ net led to a scramble for the loose puck, allowing Josh MacDonald to score a backhand goal over the pads of Fiske.

At 38:37, Kohen Olischefski made it 4-1 after an incredible solo effort from Tyler Busch. Busch skated past the Stars' defense and baited Fiske out of his net, passing the puck to Olischefski for an easy finish.

Dundee thought they had cut the deficit in half less than a minute later at 39:34 through a goal from Alex Tonge. However, following after video review, it was deemed the puck was played with a high stick, keeping the score 4-1 going into the third period.

A penalty on the Devils late in the third period opened up a chance for the visitors to get a second on the scoresheet. Despite being down a man, though, it was Cardiff who pounced and scored a shorthanded goal through Tyler Busch at 53:20 on a feed from Ryan Barrow.

Gleason Fournier sent a slapshot through traffic 2:16 from the final buzzer to make it 6-1 securing the two points for the Cardiff Devils.

That final goal was a special one for Joey Martin, whose assist saw him tie Jeff Legue’s all-time points record for an overseas player in the Elite League.